National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

President Nixon signed the Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation Act of 1970 on December 31, 1970. This legislation was also known as the Hughes Act for Senator Harold Hughes, a person who was in recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD) and championed the cause of AUD research. The Hughes Act authorized a comprehensive Federal program to...

What is the Core Resource on Alcohol? The Healthcare Professional’s Core Resource on Alcohol consists of 14 interconnected articles covering the basics of what every healthcare professional needs to know about alcohol. The “Core” was developed by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), a part of the National Institutes of Health. NIAAA is the lead federal agency...

Stigma refers to negative beliefs about individuals or groups based on characteristics that may set them apart from others, such as mental health conditions including alcohol use disorder (AUD).

If you or a loved one needs help with an alcohol problem, you have several options beyond in-person care. You can access professional telehealth care by phone or video chat. You can take self-guided online programs to reduce or quit drinking. And you can attend online mutual-support groups. You might put together a care plan that combines some or all...

NIAAA’s major initiatives seek to address alcohol-related issues across the lifespan. Our aim is to reduce the tremendous burden of illness resulting from the misuse of alcohol by: Preventing children and adolescents from beginning and continuing to drink alcohol Offering effective intervention for problem alcohol use at all ages To accomplish this, we support research in areas ranging from basic...

The below resources provide information on treatment, support, and mental and physical health for middle schoolers, as well as additional resources for school projects. Tips for Parents Quick tips on getting started with talking to your middle schooler about alcohol. Mental Health Emergencies Many young people who drink also struggle with other substance use disorders and mental health issues, such...

Research on Promising Medications (not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [FDA]) to Treat Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) Varenicline (Chantix®) , a medication approved for smoking cessation, was found in a recent 200-patient clinical trial conducted by NIAAA’s Clinical Investigations Group (NCIG) to reduce alcohol consumption and craving among people who are alcohol-dependent. Varenicline may work by partially...

Risks of using alcohol to relieve your pain: mixing alcohol and pain medicines can be harmful, analgesic doses of alcohol exceed moderate drinking guidelines and chronic alcohol drinking makes pain worse.

Data Access Policy, Application and Agreement NIAAA Protocol NCIG 003: A Phase 2, Double-Blind, Placebo Controlled Trial to Assess the Efficacy of Varenicline Tartrate for Alcohol Dependence Description This double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of varenicline tartrate for the treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD). Study Details Sponsor: The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism’s...

Wednesday, September 18, 2013 - Thursday, September 19, 2013

The National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) convened for its 134th meeting at 5:30 p.m. on September 18, 2013, at the Fishers Lane Conference Center in Rockville, Maryland. The Council met in closed session for a review of grant applications and a Merit Award extension. The meeting recessed at 6:37 p.m. Dr. Abraham Bautista, Director, Office of...

Andras Orosz, Ph.D. with contributions from: Changhai Cui, Ph.D., I-Jen Castle, Ph.D., and Deidra Roach, M.D. Alcohol and Aging (R01, R21; New concept addressing a priority area of the 2017-2021 NIAAA Strategic Plan) Purpose The purpose of this Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) is to promote research to improve our understanding of the effects of alcohol consumption on aging across...

March 1, 2024

Underage drinking is a significant public health problem in the United States. As part of its efforts to raise awareness of and combat underage drinking, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has launched NIAAA for Middle School and NIAAA for Teens . “Early initiation of alcohol consumption increases the risk of a wide range of harmful consequences...

The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting every family across the country and will likely have a long-lasting impact on public health and well-being. Alcohol misuse is already a public health concern in the United States, and alcohol has the potential to further complicate the COVID-19 pandemic in multiple ways. Below are links to important resources for the public, clinicians, and researchers...

Alcohol interferes with the brain’s communication pathways and can affect the way the brain looks and works. Alcohol makes it harder for the brain areas controlling balance, memory, speech, and judgment to do their jobs, resulting in a higher likelihood of injuries and other negative outcomes. Long-term heavy drinking causes alterations in the neurons, such as reductions in their size...

Alcohol Epidemiologic Data Reference Manuals are statistical compendia of alcohol-related data useful to researchers and others interested in alcohol problems. PDF files are available for all the manuals; and machine-readable data files are available for manual volumes 1, 3, and 5 from the links provided below on this page. Hard copies are available for NIH Publication No. 02-4997 and manual...

With small, incremental steps, you can create and support a better system of care for your patients with alcohol-related problems.

Physicians often fail to ask high school-aged patients about alcohol use and to advise young people to reduce or stop drinking, according to a study led by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health. In a random survey of more than 2,500 10th grade students with an average age of 16...

NIH-supported study finds coordinated efforts limit the impact of high-risk drinking Coordinated strategies that address alcohol availability, alcohol policy enforcement and drinking norms can help colleges and their communities protect students from the harms of high-risk drinking, according to a new study supported by the National Institutes of Health. In the Study to Prevent Alcohol Related Consequences (SPARC), researchers found...

Thursday, July 30, 2020, 10:30 am EDT

At the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) Mid-Year Training Institute, NIAAA will present a session "Preventing underage and young adult drinking and related problems." The session will focus on research findings regarding policy and other interventions addressing underage and young adult drinking and related alcohol problems. Researchers will examine recent data and trends in underage drinking. In addition, findings...

Fri, 03/03/2023 - 12:00

This article was first published in NIAAA Spectrum Volume 15, Issue 1. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a heterogeneous disorder, meaning individuals with AUD differ in their clinical symptoms and in the biological and psychological factors that contribute to their disorder. A better understanding of individual differences in AUD could inform the development of tailored treatment approaches to increase treatment...